Anthony Stokes on why Marvel’s movies will only get better from here…
After the massive success of comic book movies over the past few years, there has been a lot of talk about the superhero bubble bursting and that the trend will come to an end. For Marvel Studios, there’s also the issue that many of their lead actors contracts are coming to an end in the next few years. Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. specifically may not have many more Marvel movies under their belt, with Robert’s age becoming a factor and Chris Evans seemingly wanting to kickstart the second leg of his career doing more meaningful intimate projects. But fear not. Not only do I think Marvel will be just fine without their core Avengers, but they might do even better. Creatively at least.
In response to the question of whether the comic book movie trend is sustainable, as long as the movies the studios are putting out are good then there’s no particular worry. Guardians of the Galaxy pulled in half a billion dollars, while Green Lantern failed to recover its budget with marketing included. Lackluster comic book movies fall every year, whilst the better movies do well. Look at The Amazing Spider-Man 2 which not only had the lowest gross of a Spider-Man movie, but also the poorest reception. Coincidence? I think not.There are exceptions to every rule like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which in my opinion is one of the best comic book movies ever made, but didn’t even make it’s budget back. However this applies mainly to mainstream comic book movies. So long as Marvel, DC, Sony and Fox keep (or in some cases start) releasing good movies, they will be okay and will see their profits rise.
In terms of Marvel, for a while I was worried that after Phase Three when all the original Marvel contracts expired the MCU would be on its last legs. But quite the contrary. If you’ve been paying attention, Marvel has actually put steps in motion to ensure a long life for their product. The first step was announcing Guardians of the Galaxy, based on the obscure comic book series. Guardians was essentially a test to see how strong the brand is. Guardians came to fruition through Marvel’s writer’s program, which allowed upcoming writers to have access to any property they saw fit and allowed them to try to adapt it by writing a script. That means the more obscure a Marvel movie is, the more it comes from a place of genuine creativity. So now the flood gates are open.
Step two for Marvel was moving the brand to TV. Now Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was a major failure in my opinion, although it did get renewed for a second season, which I’m pretty sure was just so Marvel and ABC could save face. But these upcoming Netflix shows are what I’m really waiting for. By expanding the brand to TV, Marvel has a testing ground for even more superheroes – heroes that are certainly interesting but may not have the same big screen appeal as Iron Man or Thor. Step three has been expanding the universe and creating more teams. If an Inhumans movie is released, that means Marvel has four major teams in the MCU – Guardians, Avengers, Defenders, and Inhumans. The good thing about this is that Marvel is capable of being able to change up the roster like in the comics. Star-Lord could become an Avenger or Black Bolt could join Guardians, allowing for more variation and creativity.
Step four is that Marvel has really built up its side characters, aside from poor old Hawkeye, to the point that they could lead their own solo movie. In 2010, a Black Widow movie sounded like a crazy idea, but now it’s a possibility. A Captain America movie doesn’t need Steve Rogers – it could be about Sam Wilson or Bucky Barnes taking up the mantle. JARVIS or Rhodey could become the new Iron Man. This is what excites me the most. The second wave of Avengers who will have to take up the mantle from the previous ones should allow for some interesting stories.
With people complaining about how ordinary and formulaic the Marvel movies have become, you’d think they’d look forward to the new and interesting paths Marvel has taken. Aside from Thor: Dark World, every solo movie seems to be taking a unique direction. Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy are all distinguishable from other Marvel movies, and the upcoming slate seems to carry that on. Ant-Man is the first real anti-hero Marvel movie, Inhumans would be a completely different direction than Marvel is used to taking, and Doctor Strange could forgo the typical origin story path for something more innovative.
From where I’m sitting Marvel has nowhere to go but up.
Anthony Stokes is a blogger and independent filmmaker.
Originally published August 29, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
